True Reds

Monday, June 12, 2017

If you're a football fan in
Ireland you tend to be a supporter of either Liverpool or Manchester United.
For me, right from when I was a little boy, I was always mad about United. It
should therefore come as no surprise that Tuesday at Chepstow was one I'll
remember for good reasons.

As my riding career
progressed and I started to become successful I was lucky enough to meet Sir
Alex Ferguson. We struck up a good relationship and I had the privilege of
riding some of his horses, including Magic City, who won a £100,000 Goodwood
handicap for a partnership that included Sir Alex.

When I started training Sir
Alex kindly supported me and on Tuesday we sent Twenty Times - who he shares
with friends Peter Done, Ged Mason and Ron Wood - to Chepstow for her first
outing out of maidens, upped in trip for a 1m2f handicap.

Sir Alex had showed great
patience with the filly, who I explained to him last year was going to be nice
but would need a trip. I asked him to bear with me, which he did.

On Tuesday morning I rang
him and said, "Today is the day", on the basis rain had arrived and
she was racing on ground I felt she would like over a trip that was going to
suit. She hails from a good Aga Khan family and has Dream Ahead as her sire,
which might throw some people, but there is plenty of stamina on her damside.

She is a lovely, genuine
filly who didn't let us down, winning with a bit in hand. Alex rang me shortly
after the race and was absolutely thrilled, which was great to hear. Earlier in
the year he kindly organised for my son, Harvey, to meet David De Gea on the
day of an FA Cup match. That was a huge privilege. It was fabulous to be able
to repay him.

This proved to be another
good week for the yard, as on Wednesday Believe It made all to win at Kempton
under an excellent ride from Stephen Cummins, who I think will now really start
to get going and pick up outside mounts.

Believe It has been a great
servant to the yard. He joined us with a rating of 54 and on this occasion was
winning off 77. That was his sixth win for the yard, so we really do owe him a
lot.

He has done particularly
well as he has a wind issue. However, when we can jump him off on the
all-weather and get him into a good, even rhythm, he seems to get away with it.

You can't stop and start a
horse who has a wind problem. When a horse like that gets checked, his head is
thrown into the air there is a much greater chance the palate will flip.
All-weather racing surfaces are so level that horses only really change their
legs on the turns. To Believe It that's much more preferable than going up and down
on turf and ending up stumbling, which would lead to him having to go for his
breath.

We might, for those reasons,
be a little limited in where we take him, but in the right race on the right
surface he seldom lets us down.

Wings deserved his Derby triumph

The racing at Epsom last
week was fantastic. For different reasons the two Classics were memorable.

The Derby was a great race
to watch. From the two pole to the line it looked like so many different horses
were going to win. The Oaks was a very different sort of contest but the home
straight duel between Enable and Rhododendron was a tremendous spectacle.

It was such a pleasure to
see the Oaks won by a filly who hails from a proper staying family. That is a
great message to send out to the breeding industry and it was also a marvellous
result for Enable's sire, Nathaniel, who I support with enthusiasm. I think he
is a great stallion whose progeny has represented super value at the sales -
although I probably won't be able to afford them any longer!

I had my doubts about
whether Rhododendron would be at her very best over 1m4f and I do think in the
closing stages she was outstayed. Had the ground stayed fast it's possible she
might have got away with it, but the conditions were tough and the pace was
strong.

In fact, the conditions were
not only tough - they were potentially dangerous. Given there was thunder and
lightning around, I was amazed the race was started from stalls. I can remember
similar occasions in the past when weather like that has caused Flat contests
to be started by tape. I know stalls move on tyres but I also know I would not
want to be inside a set when lightning strikes.

Wings Of Eagles was the best
horse on the day in the Derby, but I reckon Cliffs Of Moher may turn out to
have been the best horse in the race.

I felt of all the strongly
fancied horses, Cliffs Of Moher received the best ride. They went very hard up
front but Ryan Moore had his mount racing at what he thought was the right
gallop. That meant he conceded plenty of ground but he nevertheless brought the
colt with what looked to be a perfectly-timed challenge.

The great advantage Padraig
Beggy had on Wings Of Eagles is nobody expected him to win, which therefore
meant he was under no pressure.

That was exactly how I felt
when I won the Oaks on Talent. I'm sure that helped me and I'm sure it helped
Padraig. It really can make a massive difference. I told Ralph Beckett I would
jump off and make the running on Talent but when it was obvious she couldn't
match the gallop I decided to drop her out and let her do things in her own
time. They ended up going too quickly and we came through to win.

Wings Of Eagles was in the
perfect place throughout the race. Having run nicely at Chester, which with
hindsight was way too sharp for him, he found himself in a Derby in which they
went like hell - and that proved to be right up his street.

This was another great Derby
for Ballydoyle. All the stable's contenders will have been trained as though
they were a red-hot favourite, with each having a lead horse of his own. Come
the big day they all compete off a level playing field. Each jockey is given
specific instruction to suit the horse he is riding. I know that because I have
been involved in one of those pre-race huddles when part of an Aidan O'Brien
team.

On this occasion Douglas
Macarthur and The Anvil raced from the front but I've seen plenty of Aidan's
ridden like that and not get caught. I don't know if either horse was
specifically run as a pacemaker but if you're a jockey riding against
Ballydoyle horses you simply cannot let their pacemakers go clear because even
they are sons of Galileo.

With Ballydoyle, the ones
who race from the front and the ones who come from behind are all very good
indeed.

Peslier plight was
frightening to watch

You won't see many more
dramatic pieces of racing television than Olivier Peslier bailing out from the
runaway Daddys Lil Darling before the Oaks.

A jockey in that sort of
situation can be sure the outcome is not going to be pretty.

When a jockey knows he is
going to fall he normally gets hurt. That's because instinct has time to take
over and you try to save yourself. When you can see a fall coming you tend to
put your hand out to save yourself, which in itself leads to broken
collarbones. That's why jump jockeys suffer that sort of injury so regularly.
With most Flat falls the first thing that hits the ground is your head.

I remember seeing a guy
being run away with at Folkestone. His horse galloped past the stalls and then
carried on another 100 yards towards the end rail. The jockeys who were
watching felt sure he would jump off, but he decided to stay on board. When the
horse got to the point where he could go no further he did a huge skid and
crashed into the fence. Miraculously, both horse and rider were fine.

The problem with a tearaway
horse is he will be pulling hard, which means his head will be raised, which in
turn means he won't be able to see where he is going. To rectify that the
jockey has to stop pulling back on the reins, but the obvious consequence of
that is it allows the horse to go faster.

It's a bit like going at 100
miles per hour on the motorway and letting go of the steering wheel.

Unfortunately, you either do
that or you jump off. It's an absolutely horrible feeling.

Epsom ground great but
owners deserved better

First, some praise.

I thought ITV did a
magnificent job at Epsom. I watched a fair bit of the Derby day coverage before
heading to Lingfield's evening meeting. What I saw was brilliant. Also
brilliant was the state of the racecourse. Epsom and Sandown have a superb
clerk in Andrew Cooper, who once again produced the track in super condition.

Now a moan.

We had a runner on Friday at
Epsom, where the owners' and trainers' area we were directed to was a temporary
marquee just beyond the winning post. It had a sloping floor and high stools
that proved extremely difficult to tackle. I found it easier getting on Tiggy
Wiggy. I actually saw two people fall off the stools. Neither person looked to
be under the influence.

On such an important day I
couldn't believe there was no designated area for all owners in the main
Queen's Stand.

It's often said, but it's
true, that when owners come back from having a runner at Chester they tell
trainers they would love to go back in the future. I'm not sure owners who
experienced the sloping floor, or fell off one of the stools, will have said
the same about Epsom.